Determining your objectives is the starting point of any influencer marketing campaign; it’s key if you want your campaign to be a success and will also help you determine which social network is the best fit for your campaign needs.
Nowadays, the four most popular social networks are Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. In order to determine which is best for your influencer marketing campaign, you’ll need to take a close look at each one’s characteristics:
Twitter is the social network par excellence for quick and viral content. If what you’re looking to do is boost product or brand visibility at a particular moment, such as during an event or a social gathering, and have it spread like wildfire, Twitter is the perfect platform for your campaign.
A perfect example of an influencer marketing campaign that took advantage of a social event, is whisky brand Ballantine’s Valentine’s day campaign. For the past few years, the brand has managed to become a Trending Topic on Twitter on this romantic date, thanks to their #SanBallantines campaign:
Instagram is the most visual social network and currently has the highest growth rate. It’s managed to position itself as the preferred social network for brands who wish to market their products with influencers.
Since they can market their products with photos, videos or live content, it’s the perfect platform for achieving objectives related to:
As well as the advantages Instagram has in terms of marketing products, the possibility of creating a symbiosis between the influencer recommending the product and the product itself helps brands communicate their values and really make an impact on their target audience.
(photo by make-up guru @heyratolina)
If one of your campaign objectives is to generate revenue, Instagram is the perfect ally, thanks to its Stories feature. Ever since the social network added the “swipe up” feature which allows influencers to add links to their stories, directing traffic to websites has never been easier.
(Photo by @fernandojaso)
The content published on this social network is much more curated and influencers tend to have more credibility, due to the relationship they’re able to establish with their audience. Thanks to this credibility, this is the perfect platform for branding strategies with product awareness objectives. However, brands ought to take into consideration that on Youtube, products and services are tested to see if they meet the influencer’s expectations, meaning that it’s not just free marketing, but truthful accounts of their product experience.
(Photo taken from Shatungaa’s YouTube account)
Thanks to the creation of new social networks, such as Musically or Instagram, the younger generation has stopped using Facebook, transforming it into the perfect social network for over 35 year olds.
Facebook is commonly used to support campaigns which are primarily launched on Instagram or YouTube.
As we’ve seen in this article, each social network has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to achieving certain objectives and choosing the right platform is one of the most important steps in ensuring the success of your influencer marketing campaign.